In one of the latest outbreaks on a farm near Penrith, Cumbria, 80 cows were slaughtered and a further 20, also classed as reactors, were due to be killed.

The government pays compensation to farmers whose cattle have been slaughtered to control the disease, ranging from £132 to £1,665 per animal, depending on its age and type.

A total of £63m was spent dealing with bovine TB in 2009/10 and the government said it recognised the disease had a "devastating effect on many farm businesses and families".

Last year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) begun a public consultation on tackling the disease. The result will soon be published.

Mr Moreton said: "On a farm you see life and death every day.

"This disease is out of your control and when there's an outbreak you do understand the animals need to be killed.

"But in the last outbreak we lost animals which were three to four years old - at the peak of their production life. We would have spent two to three years just rearing them with no income."

'Keep morale up'

Mr Moreton said it had been a long-term problem in Gloucestershire, and he had lost 10 to 20 cows in each outbreak on his farm.

"It is upsetting. I have four employees and I have to keep morale up and reassure them it is not their fault and that we have to keep going," he added.

Like many farmers, Mr Moreton believes badgers are the "prime culprit" behind bovine TB. He said among evidence was that when badgers were culled in the area the disease was much less widespread, but it had become "worse and worse" in the last 10 to 15 years.

He said bovine TB was also known to spread from other cattle, but he had not brought any cattle, apart from a breeding bull, which was safely sourced, on to his farm for years.

Mr Moreton said he would like to see badgers humanely culled in affected areas, but believed vaccinating cattle against the disease would be the best long-term solution when a cow vaccine becomes available.

In the government consultation, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has backed a proposal to curb the disease by licensing farmers to tackle TB on their land by killing badgers or vaccinating them.

Ministers have said this was also their "preferred approach".

However, badger culls have been passionately opposed by a range of animal welfare groups who say research has found no link between the species and bovine TB.

The Badger Trust says that government research over decades "had yet to determine how badgers infect cattle" and insisted that instead the badgers "very often" caught the disease from cows.

Meanwhile, some scientists say a badger cull could make the problem worse because it could cause badgers to roam further.

A Defra spokesman said no decision on badger control had yet been taken.

"We received a large number of responses to the public consultation which will be considering carefully in order to make the best decision," he said.

"We will announce our decision as soon as possible as part of a comprehensive and balanced TB eradication programme for England."